Need You Now
by skye3
Summary: Sir, I apologize if I'm interrupting. But I believe Miss Potts needs your presence right now." Companion fic to 'Just Say It.' Pepperony of course. Warning: Major fluff.


**Author's Note: Hi! It's me again. This is a companion fic to my other story, 'Just Say It.' But you don't necessarily need to read that to follow this. And I'm sorry but I can't seem to write anything but fluff. So, yeah, brace yourself. MAJOR FLUFF HEADING YOUR WAY. You've been warned. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing.**

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"Peterson! For the hundredth time, we are not going back to weapons manufacturing! This is my company. And if you're not happy with my decisions, you're more than welcome to leave. I don't –"

Tony Stark had been attending meetings since seven o'clock this morning. This meeting with the Board should be the last one for the day. Pepper told him that this would be a short one, but it's been dragged to almost two hours. It was almost lunch time, and he was so damn hungry already. And this Peterson guy is being a prick. He's had enough of it. His irritation was about to turn into a full blown explosion of rage when his phone rang.

"Yeah?"

_Sir, I apologize if I'm interrupting._ Jarvis' crisp accent greeted him. _But I believe Miss Potts needs your presence right now._

"What? Why?" He stood up, motioning to the others that he's leaving, and stepped out of the conference room.

_She's hyperventilating, Sir. – _

"She's what?!? Why? What happened?"

— _I am following her order not to call 911 but I'm overriding her command not to call you, Sir._

"Good call, Jarvis. What – never mind. I'll be there in 10 minutes, tops." Tony broke into a run as he ended the call. He got into his Audi and sped down the freeway to his mansion, violating every traffic law in the face of the Earth.

In seven minutes, he was in his garage. That's got to be some kind of world record but he was going to think about that later. Not even bothering turn the engine off, he got out of his car.

"Where is she?" He asked as he ran though his workshop.

_She's is the living room, Sir._

Tony took the stairs two at a time.. He stopped as he emerged from the basement and there was Pepper, curled into a ball on the couch, clutching a lump of Kleenex to her chest. Her eyes were swollen red and as was her face, from trying to keep her breathing back to normal. She seemed to have gotten herself together and she was just hiccuping now.

"Pepper?"

"Tony!" Pepper gasped, and sat up. "How…when…Tony!"

Immediately, Tony was beside her. He held her to his chest as she cried all over again. When she didn't stop crying, he gently held her shoulders and slowly pushed so he could see her face. "Pepper," he tucked her hair behind her ear and wipe her tears with his thumbs, "Pepper, what happened? What's wrong? Tell me."

But instead of answering, she just shook her head and lunged forward, crying harder as she buried her face into his chest. Tony was getting more worried as minutes passed and she's still crying in his arms like it's the end of the world. He knew, given Pepper's condition, that emotions would tend to become more exaggerated -- something to do with the hormones getting out of whack when a person is pregnant. He'd read that in the many pregnancy books that invaded the house since they got a definite positive 4 months ago. But this was Pepper. And her crying like there would be no tomorrow was scaring him.

"It's okay," he murmured, "You have to breathe, Pep. Baby needs air." He ran his hands up and down her sides to calm her down.

Pepper nodded through her tears. "I'm…I'm…"

"Ssshhh…." Tony gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's okay. Breath first, talk later." He toed his shoes off and adjusted their position so that he had his back against one arm of the couch and she was sitting on his legs.

As Pepper's breathing slowly returned to normal, Tony looked around the house trying to figure out what had caused his beautiful pregnant wife to cry so much. But there was nothing out of place. Everything was just as it's supposed to be.

Except….Dummy.

Tony frowned as he regarded the bot. And it was then that he noticed that it was covered with scratches and dents. And he was holding a box of Kleenex. "What happened to you?" When Dummy just whined at him, he looked up, "Jarvis? What happened to Dummy?"

_Miss Potts had been upset with him and hit him with the remote control several times._

Tony bit his cheeks to keep from laughing. "And what did Dummy do to deserve such punishment?"

_I'm afraid it's my fault, Sir. Miss Potts was looking for the telephone which you left in the workshop. I sent him up to hand her the telephone. _

At that, Pepper sniffled and pulled herself away from Tony. "I'm sorry." She wiped her tears with her hand. "I'm sorry, Dummy." She sighed and rested he head on Tony's shoulder, her body still quivering from all the crying.

Dummy chirped and inched closer.

Pepper smiled at him and reached to pluck a tissue out of the box. "Thank you."

Tony chuckled and placed a hand on her bump. "So what happened?"

"I….I just needed the phone and then I didn't need it anymore." Pepper sighed and placed her hand on top of his.

"That's it? I don't --- "

_She wanted to call because she missed you, Sir._

"Jarvis!" Pepper glared at the ceiling.

This time, Tony laughed. "You missed me?"

"Yes. And I know it's crazy and you have a full schedule for today and I didn't want to bother you so I told Dummy to put the phone away, but he wouldn't leave Tony! And he kept shoving the phone at me!"

_I'm afraid that's my fault too, Sir. Miss Potts had started crying and her stress levels had increased. We were trying to persuade her to call you._

"That's alright Jarvis." Tony said and then moved so he could see Pepper's face. "Pepper, next time, just call. Okay? It's not gonna be a problem."

"But this isn't me, Tony!" She snapped. "I don't cry because I miss you just a few hours after you left."

"I know." He murmured. "But you're pregnant. And….hormones, right?"

She pouted. "Yeah. I guess. Stupid hormones. I hate this." Pepper moved to hug him. "I'm sorry."

Tony smiled, he loved Pepper but pregnant Pepper might just be a little bit more adorable than not-pregnant Pepper. Not to mention sexy as hell too.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Pep. You're having our baby and that gives you a free pass at everything." He grinned at her. "So…I'm here now. Wanna give me a kiss?"

Pepper giggled and moved so she was kneeling, straddling one of his leg. "Yes." And she gave him an earth shattering kiss, their tongues dancing in a slow burn. Her fingers dove into his hair and he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her flush against him. Tony groaned when she moved away for air.

"Hmmm…" She sighed and he felt her body start to sag heavily.

"Nap? Or lunch?"

"Nap first." She replied, her eyes already half closed. He moved so he was spooning her. Their hands came together at her bump. "I love you, Potts."

"Love you too." She whispered.

"Jarvis, lights." The windows darkened at his request and the lights dimmed.

."And Tony?"

"Yeah?" He thought she had fallen asleep already.

"We need a puppy."

"A puppy?" And then he noticed, for the first time that the TV was still on. And 'Marley and Me' was on mute. "You really think –"

Pepper turned in his arms, and faced him. "I want a puppy, Tony. Just like Marley."

He knew that look. It meant she was getting what she wanted. He smiled. He'd give her anything she asked for. Hell, he'd fetch the moon for her if she wanted. "Yes, dear."

Pepper hummed, gave him a quick kiss and burrowed into his warmth. "Good."

-END-

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**Thank you for reading. Comments are much appreciated. =D**


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